The Internet has not only changed the way we read. It was a breach of contract.
You’ve been paying for journalism for decades. You bought a newspaper. You got the information. That transaction was simple. Clear. fair enough.
Then there is the Internet.
Suddenly the same information is free. Click away. Read now. There are no expenses. No discussion. The value proposition of paid printing collapsed overnight.
This change triggered a media crisis that continues to this day. Impaired circulation is not the only problem. This is about surviving diversity in journalism.
Quality journalism is becoming an endangered species. The deep-dive investigations. The local reporting. Fact check. These are becoming luxury goods. Or it disappears completely.
However, there is a problem here.
A large media company. business group. The legacy brands. They still make money.
how?
They didn’t stop selling news. They changed the model. They leveraged scale. They diversified. Optimized.
But what about the cost?
The richness of our information environment. multiple voices. Media independence.
We are facing a contradiction.
Cheaper access. The quality is even worse. Greater profits can be achieved if the platform is controlled by fewer people.
The question is not whether the Internet has killed newspapers. It did.
The question is, who will pay the price for the truth?
Who decides what is worth reporting?
Twenty years ago, reading newspapers online was a dream. When German newspapers came online in 1995, the digital ecosystem was still sparse. By the end of the year, only 13 publications had crossed the digital threshold. Readers weren’t exactly lining up for these streamlined news feeds. There is no infrastructure.
A joint investigation by ARD and ZDF in 1997 revealed the harsh reality. Only 6.5% of Germans were online. Those people? Most of them male, educated and wealthy. They have the money to buy expensive computer equipment and the patience to pay for dial-up connections by the minute. This early demographic formed the DNA of the Internet. That’s why online information is practically free these days. What began as a promotional tool for print editions and a magnet for tech-savvy pioneers changed the media landscape forever.
Why media consolidation hurts news diversity
The Internet is a vast and incomprehensible network of cables and servers. Science fiction writers never expected us to use it for everything from dating to gathering global news. If you want to understand the coalition agreement, the Syrian civil war, and the politics of the Central African Republic, you have several options.
You can compare sources. You can read eyewitness accounts. Create a comprehensive picture from multiple perspectives. It sounds like the golden age of information diversity.
It isn’t.
Press diversity in Germany is slowly disappearing. Established titles like the Financial Times Deutschland closed their doors in 2012. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung only avoided bankruptcy by taking over a 35% stake from rival Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. In most areas, local readers have little choice between competing dailies. The rest of the newspapers offer much of the same content from shrinking newsrooms.
Broadcasting offers little relief. Just five media groups control 60 percent of the power of public opinion in Germany: ARD, Bertelsmann, Axel Springer, ProSiebenSat.1 and ZDF. The Bavarian state media office confirmed this concentration in August.
Journalism as a hobby
Traditional gatekeepers are disappearing. What remains is a fragmented landscape of professional journalism, competing with amateurs and algorithms. The barriers to entry into the publishing industry have collapsed. Anyone with a blog or social media account can claim authority. This change has eroded the financial model that once supported investigative journalism. Without revenue, quality journalism becomes a luxury or a volunteer activity. The public gets more noise, but less signal.
Sharing an opinion used to mean shouting into the void. Now it only takes a few clicks. Bloggers and citizen journalists are always passionate. Political engagement. Niche interests. Some of these platforms are reliable. Carta.info turned 5 years old in December 2013. Netzpolitik.org has been monitoring digital civil rights since 2004. They are established. High quality.
But passion can’t pay the rent.
There’s only so much scandal you can handle before you burn out. You can’t work full time telling politicians what to do for free. This excitement breaks old models.
Huffington Post experiment and Unpaid Work
AOL and Burda’s Tomorrow Focus aim to monetize this frustration. They launched the German-language Huffington Post in October 2013. Their pitch is simple. No money. Just glory.
The editorial told blogger Kai Petermann that they can offer reach. Additional visits. FOCUS Online starthelp. What can’t they offer? money.
Peterman’s objection was sharp. He encourages landlords to make similar “free donations.” The grocery store. Gas station. Telecommunications provider. Maybe they also accept the services in exchange for zero fees.
Spoiler: They didn’t.
It’s not about community building. This is about getting value without paying anything. Operators want profit. The author received “intangible” compensation. In Germany’s tight economy, electricity cannot be bought with intangible incentives.
The freelance slump
The crisis does not only concern volunteers. It has bleeding into professional journalism.
From April 2012 to April 2013, the number of unemployed journalists increased by 12.9 percent. This is a significant increase compared to the overall unemployment rate, which rose by only 2 percent. The Federal Employment Agency reports that about 4,300 unemployed media professionals are competing for only about 400 freelance positions.
If you can’t find a stable employee position, go freelance. This sounds like freedom. It’s often desperation.
The average annual turnover of freelance journalists insured through artists’ social security is only 17,600 euros. Actual profits are lower. These earnings are pitiful compared to other academic professions.
Why has the value of professional reporting collapsed?
Because the internet has changed money. It’s no longer a matter of accuracy. Number of clicks.
Clicks correspond to advertising revenue. Advertising revenue is the lifeblood of free online media. And how many clicks? There is no need to deep research. All you need is volume. Cheap, fast and effortless content generates traffic. Serious journalism does not, and it isn’t on a large scale.
The paradox of profitable media giants
This is where the story becomes unclear. We often hear that the Internet is killing traditional media.
Look at the profits.
Large media groups are still profitable. The newspaper is folded. Newsrooms are shrinking. Subscribers leave. But big business is booming.
Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, put it bluntly in his 2012 annual report. He called the Internet the greatest invention in cultural history, second only to writing and printing. He calls this the greatest entrepreneurial opportunity of our time.
“I am convinced that Axel Springer AG will greatly benefit from these changes and will be able to sustainably increase its corporate value.”
He’s not talking about quality journalism saving the day. He talks about scale. About traffic. About moving content faster than others.
The future of the paywall
Now comes the real test. Can we build a working payment model?
Publishers are working on it. There are paywalls everywhere. However, adoption is slow. Users are resistant. This system is still in its early stages. Until people actually pay for content instead of scrolling through ads, the clickbath will be will rule. Clickbath does not fund deep investigative work.
Can quality journalism catch up with this new economic reality?
It is possible. However, this is not guaranteed. This infrastructure has not yet been built. We’ll see if this model grows or if amateurs continue to write for free as the giants cash in of the attention economy.
The answer is not in the headlines. It’s in your wallet. Most of the wallets are currently closed.
